Former IAS officer S Lakshminarayanan has publicly alleged that a gold-plated copy of the Ramcharitmanas, which he says is worth around Rs 5 crore, has been moved from the Ram Temple.
According to Lakshminarayanan, his family donated the gold-plated Ramcharitmanas to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in April 2024. He claimed that the religious text was later shifted from the temple premises.
Lakshminarayanan further said that Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai told him that every offering made to the temple cannot be displayed in the Mandir.
Earlier, questions have also been raised on the alleged disappearance of a large amount of donated silver bars and bricks from the Ram Mandir by the opposition and the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA).
Among them was a 4-kg silver brick donated by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during the temple construction process. However, the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the case, dismissed speculation that the silver bars, weighing around 200 kg, were stolen.
The embezzlement of Ram temple donations came to light on June 7. Later, an FIR was registered on June 25 following a preliminary report by the Special Investigation Team, which was constituted by the UP government.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple is examining whether gold ornaments stolen from the shrine were melted and converted into gold biscuits to erase their identity, sources told India Today TV.
So far, eight people associated with the temple’s donation counting process have been arrested.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has introduced sweeping changes to the Ram Temple’s donation counting system, tightening security and transparency measures in the wake of allegations of embezzlement of temple donations.
Under the revised protocol, employees engaged in counting donations will now undergo a strict two-tier security screening before being allowed inside the counting hall. Sources told India Today TV that a new dress code has also been made mandatory, requiring all counting staff to wear dark blue uniforms without pockets to eliminate the possibility of concealing cash or valuables.
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Published By:
Akshat Trivedi
Published On:
Jul 5, 2026 18:29 IST
